If we wanted to do a backup of all the saved cue points/loops/analyzed tracks in Engine Prime, What files/folders would we need to backup, assuming I dont have the Engine Library folder on a USB drive yet?
Hi @americoperez49 Engine Prime automatically saves all your cue points/loops/analysed tracks . To make sure they are up to date you can run a Clean Up. I hope this helps. Chloe
Hi @Chloe_DENONDJ !
I’m asking more so for the purpose of backing up files in case something happens to my computer or if for whatever reason, a software update erases all my saved loops/cue points (Like I saw someone mention in another thread).
Does Engine Prime have some sort of protection from something disastrous like that?
Or a better question would probably be, in what directory exactly does Engine Prime save all of that information on my computer?
Hi @americoperez49 The database for each drive is stored at the root directory of it. If you would like you can take backups of that for extra peace of mind. Thanks, Chloe.
I’m curious to know why what I’m doing isn’t working regarding a backup. I’ve done it this way before, but maybe there are restrictions I still don’t know about.
I’ve filled up my 32GB stick, and now that we have “unlimited db size,” I’m moving to a 512GB stick. For some reason, I can’t copy all of the information over, and even after spending an hour doing so in chunks, Engine Prime can’t see any of the music.
At the root of every external drive is the Engine Library folder. Within that, the “music” folder containing all the music. You also have your logo file, 4 database files, a user profile and a version file. Even after copying the guts over, then the music in chunks (found 1 file that wouldn’t move over for some reason), the drive still won’t work in Engine Prime. Is it too big? Or another issue?
@DJTgro Sorry for the delayed response.
- Make sure that the new drive is formatted in a format that is supported by the players.
- Does the drive show up in the removable drive pane at all?
- What is the error that the system gives for not moving the file over?
While the non system drives all have the Engine Library folder, the actual system collection can be found in the Music\Engine Library folder.
Also, while one can make a backup of the entire removable drive Engine Library folder, this would also contain all the music files as well. Just backing up all the files that in in .db will only back up the database, meaning that it will be much smaller. Since the system drive’s Music\Engine Library folder contains no tracks, the whole folder can be simply backed up.
I hope this answers your questions, but if you require any further assistance please contact our support team: https://denondj.com/support
Hi Chloe_DENONDJ - thank you for your reply last week. I too was out of town (took my Prime’s with me, of course!).
I kind of figured out the issue - I think the 32gb drive was corrupt - Engine Prime software says:
“Database of [drive] is corrupt and may not work properly.
Please reformat and rebuild this drive”
The only option is to click OK, and voila, the drive doesn’t work anymore!
I’m not worried because I will keep regular backups of my drives (and their databases).
I just wonder why this drive corrupted all of a sudden. (32gb Lexar USB 3.0 Thumb Drive) I just bought the 512GB PNY USB 3.0 thumb drives and they work great! Been testing a 500GB SSD as well, works just fine!
Here’s a question for you. Is it possible to combine databases from two different drives into one (with music, too)? Or should I simply rebuild the drive, adding tracks, reanalyzing them and resetting all the cue points I made?
If you are storing your collection on your system drive (or another external drive that you don’t actually plug into the player) you could rebuild the drive by simply dragging all of the crates/playlists over in Engine Prime. This is the safest way to do things, since it means that no matter what, your original collection will not be exposed to unexpected player disconnects / corruptions, etc. It also means that you always have your collection somewhere else as a “backup.”
If you are using your main collection drive as the the drive that you plug into your players, this is more risky, as there is no backup unless you make one. There 2 main ways to do this:
- Clone the drive. That way you will have an exact copy of the music. The good things is that you not only have a backup of your database, but your files as well. You could use your 512Gb PNY and 500Gb SSD for this.
- Make a backup copy of all .db files within the drive. This is not as bullet-proof as the first option. If you loose your drive, you loose your music still.
As for your question - You can drag tracks from one drive to another if they are not already “packed” on that drive. However if you are rebuilding a master collection, it’s probably best to start from scratch, analyse everything and then back it up.
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Hands down the best way to do this. If you use the right software - suggested free software is Minitool Partition Wizard, it will ask if you want the new partition to be the same as the old, or scale to ration. If you have only one partition on your USB-stick (most likely), it will just make the entire new USB-stick space available. As it clones your disk, all settings, disk name and such are copied over. As far as your computer is concerned, it is the same drive (just 16 times as big :-P).
Using synchronizing software (rather than backup software, there is a difference) you can then keep a synchronized copy of your USB-stick, so you always have a spare with you. Mark them clearly though, as I have synchronized the spare to the original before because I hadn’t marked them clearly LOL. Synchronize it anytime you have made changes to it in EP, before going out to a gig.
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